In the early 1940's, asbestos was an inexpensive material which was used in virtually every industrial plant across the nation because of its superior capabilities of noise reduction, insulating and fire retardant qualities. Asbestos was used in cement asbestos pipe, plaster, wiring, pipe insulation, sound absorbing tiles, floor tiles and sprayed on ceiling structural steel and deck pans.
Asbestos has been found to be a health hazard and asbestos removal or abatement programs are being conducted to remove these health hazards. Many regulations have been adopted and are in place to ensure the safety of those workers who are removing the asbestos as well as to ensure that the asbestos being removed will not be introduced into the surrounding atmosphere. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,111 describes a fairly common system which is employed in an asbestos removal project. In most projects, an enclosure is created around the space in which the asbestos is to be removed. The space is sealed by means of plastic sheets or the like. An air inlet is provided for the enclosed space to permit air to be drawn thereinto. A filtration unit such as the Model MT-3 of Micro-Trap, Inc. of Maple Shade, N.J. or the Model ST2000 of Global Consumer Services, Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif. is employed with each of the units having an air inlet and an air outlet. The air outlet of the filtration unit is placed in communication with the area outside of the enclosed space. A blower means is provided in the filtration unit so that the contaminated air in the enclosed space will be drawn through the filtration unit with the asbestos fibers being collected in the filtration unit. The filtration units are sometimes referred to as negative air systems so that air is drawn through the air inlet formed in the wall means and through the filtration unit.
When the asbestos material is being removed from a large area, it is frequently necessary to erect temporary walls to enclose a smaller space in which the asbestos will be removed. Normally, the upper end of the temporary wall must be wedged into contact with a beam, deck or the like so that the upper end of the temporary wall will sealably engage the same. To provide such engagement, it is normally necessary to chip or scrap-away the asbestos material immediately above the upper end of the temporary wall so that the upper end of the wall may be placed into engagement with an asbestos-free surface. The chipping or scraping of the asbestos material creates a health hazard in that asbestos fibers become airborne during the removal of the same.
In an attempt to avoid such a problem, the asbestos material is sometimes sprayed with a liquid material to soften the material prior to it being removed to facilitate the installation of the temporary wall. However, the mere spraying of the liquid material onto the asbestos dislodges a certain amount of the asbestos thereby creating a health hazard.
In other types of asbestos abatement programs, the asbestos is sometimes encapsulated with a suitable liquid material which subsequently dries. However, the spraying of the encapsulating liquid onto the asbestos material does dislodge asbestos fibers thereby creating a health hazard.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an apparatus for dampening hazardous material during the removal thereof.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for dampening hazardous material prior to the removal thereof.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which may be used to encapsulate hazardous material.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a system for use in asbestos removal projects wherein a movable collector pan is positioned adjacent the area in which the asbestos is being removed with a spray nozzle being positioned adjacent the collector pan so that water or the like may be sprayed onto the hazardous material to dampen the same with the collector pan collecting the excess water and asbestos fibers which are dislodged during the spraying operation.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.